NC

Wish there had been trigger warnings

Revisado: 12-01-20

From the description I had really high hopes in reading this book—sci-fi romances are a lot of fun. I got too triggered though in the first chapters to continue—I tried a few more times, but kept having a hard time. Suicide is such a hard subject, and I always appreciate when an author has a content warning in the description or beginning of the book, but that wasn’t the case here. If suicide is something that will trigger you, I’d advise reading with caution or moving past this book. Otherwise, I’m sad I won’t be able to read this book, but it did seem well written and narrated. I’m sorry I couldn’t leave a more comprehensive review.

I received a free copy of this book at my request which in no way affected my honest review.

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Short, sweet, and highly useful!

Revisado: 09-27-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I'm a part-time ebay seller and was happy to pick this up--I'm always looking for new tips to up my selling game. And this book delivered! It's short but packs a lot of information--and useful information, too, not get rich quick schemes. I really loved that the perspective was personal and out of the author's own experience vs just a list of facts, too. This is about things to do that can help you find a better mindset, time balance, and overall up your seller instincts. If you're a newer ebay seller like me, I'd highly recommend it! It helped me a lot. The narration was great, too--a pleasure to listen to!

I received a free review copy at my request and happily left this review.

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Great redemption story!

Revisado: 09-27-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book was a blast--the feel is somewhere between Star Wars and Firefly, with grand sweeping space empires and ragtag underdogs. The story centers on Raven, who has some huge issues in her past and a large chip on her shoulder. I loved the character interactions here, especially with Emery. I didn't so much like the love interest, Cole...but, ah well. And there's some seriously evil villains which rounded it all out.

There was a plot twist in the middle that threw me for a while, but I did like the ending! Pretty epic stuff. It's hard to say much more here without giving anything away, but if you like big stories with a lot of action and heart, this will likely be up your alley. I really appreciated the character journey here, too--it feels like that's lacking sometimes in a lot of space opera.

The narration was fantastic--I'd highly recommend the narrator! Overall, a really enjoyable read!

I received a free review copy at my request and happily left this review.

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Cute and snarky...and also transphobic

Revisado: 09-27-20

I was enjoying this book a lot, laughing along with Queenie Baby and her ever-escalating love life, but a few hours into the first book there was a scene that really just socked me in the gut. The scene depicted a transgender person not just with all kinds of harmful stereotypes, but had other characters actively ridiculing the person because of their transness. As a transgender person, it really hurts coming across scenes like this that actively demean and diminish trans people. I just couldn't read past that point because the harmful slurs against trans people continued into the next scenes.

I'd recommend, if you're trans, steering clear of this book. Which makes me sad, because it was otherwise an enjoyable book. The only stars I'm giving this book are for the narrator's performance, which was excellent. Otherwise, I can't recommend this.

I received a free review copy at my request and voluntarily left this review.

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Fun and light cozy mystery

Revisado: 09-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

These books are so much fun! I've read up to book 4 now and I'll going back through to review them. They're light on the actual mechanics of the mystery, wonderfully full of quirky characters, and just a plain hoot! Gertrude is highly competent...at being Gertrude. Which I'm thinking is a full time job in itself. I loved so much her roundabout way of doing things, her absolute pride at owning a cell phone (ha!) and her banter with Calvin. I laughed out loud a lot!

If you enjoy cozy small town mysteries with quirky characters, I'd highly recommend this!

I received a free review copy at my request and happily left this review.

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LitRPG that goes deeper than the highest score

Revisado: 09-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book is hands down the best LitRPG I've read! I've read quite a few in the genre and generally love it, so I grabbed this book not having read the author's works before. And wow was I blown away! It's a classic dungeon crawl, with fairly straightforward classes and characters, set about almost in the feel of a heist. And it's also a wonderfully deep character story, and to my very happy surprise, has a strong LGBTQIA story embedded too (yay!) and realistically portrayed (which I can say as the demographic involved). One thing I've found in many LitRPG books is that LGBTQIA characters are so often non-present, or if they are, they're afterthoughts, or worse, the brunt of jokes. This isn't so here, and it warmed my heart all over.

The plot here is familiar, but that doesn't really matter because the execution was carried out so well. I was rooting hard for Max, Kira and the gang as they went from dungeon to dungeon on their quest to save the world. I gasped at the intense character moments, and cracked up often--this book is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny!

I'd pretty much recommend this to anyone, even folx who don't normally read LitRPG--the elements blend well with the story and aren't overly heavy on the stat sheet readouts.

I also have to say the audio version is just amazing--I've heard Luke Daniels' narrations before and enjoyed them, but the way he does the voices here is a whole new level. So, so good! It lent so much to the characters.

I received a free review copy at my request and happily left this review.

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What if your life was based on a number?

Revisado: 08-27-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This story feels so relevant today when so much of life is based on online popularity. There were some similarities to The Hunger Games in the concept (even the title), but this book is its own creature, and has a wonderfully cinematic buildup to an excellent ending. I loved the characters--both main characters felt real, and I wanted them both to succeed. I laughed, I cried, I got surprised where there were twists. The narration, as always with Stacey Glemboski, was excellent (she's why I first read this book, I just love her narrations!) Overall, an excellent read! Can't wait to read the next one!

I received a free review copy of this book and happily left this review.

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Romantic fun at the racetrack

Revisado: 08-19-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I picked up this book because I really loved Understudy by the same author, and read by the same narrator. This had a similar vibe: snarky teen whose life is in shambles meets hot guy, fireworks ensue. In this case, it's two hot guys, both motocross racers!

While I had fun seeing Hana delve into the motocross world, and had fun learning about that world for myself, I did find myself wanting to chuck my phone at the wall because of the crappy decisions Hana kept making. It was a little hard to root for her when I wanted to shake some sense into her! I did like the ending, though, and the romance was truly sweet.

This book gets teen angst down, though it might have been a bit too on par for my taste. It was fun, though, and a solid lighter read. And I just love the narrator, so that's a treat!

If you're a motocross fan or don't mind a bit of angst in your romances, I'd definitely recommend.

I was given a free copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

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Sweet high school theater romance

Revisado: 08-07-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book was just a treat, so sweet and vulnerable and real. It's fairly short, but the author manages to pack in a lot of drama and characterization. Wren wouldn't be my best friend in highschooland, but it was so fun to watch her slightly-snarky-teen-apathetic self wake up to life. And, of course, the hot guy she's into! The theater backdrop was wonderful, too--enough details but not so much it bogged the story down. I really, really loved the ending. It was pretty much the perfect ending to this story!

I loved the narration, too--Stacey Glemboski is one of the rare narrators that I find books and read them just because she's read them. She's excellent with characters, emotions, and voices, and this book certainly doesn't disappoint!

I'd highly recommend this for a fun, light, happy read.

I was given a free review copy of this book and have happily left my honest review.

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Scifi with gorgeous worldbuilding

Revisado: 08-04-20

The strength of this book is definitely the worldbuilding! It's a gorgeous, intricate, and mysterious set of societies on a far future space station that we don't know much about. Information about this world and future is doled out in small bits, and there's always surprises popping up that make everything richer. I absolutely loved the moment when I was able to put the cover illustration together with what was happening in the book.

Where I struggled, though, was connecting with the characters--in particular, the main character. Edwina is cold, distant, and comes across as non-empathetic to those around her. Maybe it's a symptom of her strange robot-body-hopping condition, but I just found I couldn't connect with her because of it. The body hopping compounds this, switching out the characters she interacts with so that it takes a while for all the threads of the story to build. The first 1/3 of the book is very slow, with everything happening to a mostly helpless Edwina vs her actually doing anything on her own. It does pick up a bit after that, but not much.

The narration was great, and I think the narrator did a good job of portraying the feel of the character and world.

Again, the strength here is in the worldbuilding. The world almost is a character in itself--if you love strange and beautiful worlds, you will probably like this book! But, if you read more for character interactions, this might not be your jam.

I was given a free review copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

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